Balor of Wilusa
by Jet556
Summary: Twenty-seven years after Mumm-Ra's final defeat, Balor and Gard go to the rescue of Balor's firstborn son Kormac from the Evabon witch Hecvia, the fabled Pythoness of the Clouds. It will take them far from Wilusa, past Thundera and to the very roof of Third Earth!
1. The Pythoness of the Clouds

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**The Pythoness of the Clouds**

Balor of Wilusa was thirty-five years old. Chieftain of Wilusa for fifteen years, husband of Brigid for fourteen and friend of the ThunderCats for twenty-seven years, Balor had earned much happiness.

To him and Brigid were born children: two sons Kormac and Kukhulainn and as of recently a daughter named Epona! Epona's birth had left Brigid ill and Balor never left her side while Kormac grew melancholy. Yet eventually, Brigid did recover and Balor decided to go forth into the wilderness with Kormac so they could once more spend time together.

A boy of twelve with a slender frame, Kormac had inherited his father's skin and hair color and his mother's eyes. He wore a loincloth as many Evabon men did and even some women. His was purple in color in contrast to the silver of his father and that of Gard whom those of the Gardites are descended from. Kormac was trained to use a sword and he had the spark of shamanism about him.

One evening, Balor sat next to Gard by a fire. The night was silent and that alone told Gard something was wrong.

"She is here in the wilderness." Commented Gard.

"Hecvia?" asked Balor. "How can you be sure?"

"This silence is an unnatural silence, people have seen her… In the form of… I don't know what, I only know it is not something of the natural world."

"Then, how do you know it is her?"

"What other form could possibly hide her from my eye?" Gard might have been half-blind but even so his good eye could identify the pythoness of the clouds that had cursed his brother Procyon with a bloodlust! He would kill her and the battle that began during the Mumm-Ra war would at long last end. "Where is Kormac?"

"I… You don't think…"

"Killed? No! Taken? Yes! Come!"

"Come? Come where?"

"Balor, my boy, you may have grown in the wilderness and in Wilusa but I still know more of the secrets of the wilderness than you ever will!"


	2. Dark Sphinx of the Wilderness

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**Dark Sphinx of the Wilderness**

In the wilderness was a great statue, darker than obsidian. It was here that Gard led Balor. A look of curiousness from Balor caused Gard to point at the statue.

"This here is where we start!"

"But why? This place is as far from the clouds as I can possibly imagine!"

Gard gave a chuckle. "Go to the chest of the statue."

"What?" Balor couldn't understand what reason Gard could have for wanting him to go to that specific spot. Gard pointed at the chest of the statue and Balor walked over to it and saw what looked like a door. "How do I open this?"

"Pull it down."

"What's inside?"

"You'll see."

Balor forced his small fingers into the lines of the door and pulled it down. What came falling out was a mummified corpse.

"W-What is this? Who is this?"

"That is Hecvia… if she would ever return to this husk we could kill her once and for all."

Balor looked at the mummy. "T-This is Hecvia?"

"Oh, Balor, it has been many years since you last saw Hecvia… When I sleep, I see her in my dreams. Look at the husk and notice the resemblance… It is there and to bring Hecvia's wandering spirit back into this we must bring it to her… She can only go so far being banished from the astral plane."

"Where to next?"

"Thundera! We must enlist help!"

"From Lion-O?" asked Balor.

Gard smiled. "From Lion-O!"


	3. Damask Satellites of Thundera

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**Damask Satellites of Thundera**

The moons were an unusually red color when Gard and Balor arrived in Thundera. It left Balor uncertain about what was going on.

"The Red Star is not here to cast red light upon the moons… Why are they this color?"

Gard did not even look skyward. There was something not right here. Why was the palace so empty? All but the palace was filled with people. Where was everybody? For what reason did the palace seem so abandoned?

"Lion-O? Tygra? Cheetara? Anybody?" Gard continued to look around. It seemed like there was an evil presence in the palace and yet he could not put his finger on it.

"Zuvowang, it is good to see you!" Gard turned and saw Lion-O standing not too far off. Zuvowang? Him? How Lion-O could mistake him for Zuvowang was beyond him. Gard's good eye scanned Lion-O and noticed something not right. Lion-O's left ear was Tygra's left ear.

"Where is Lion-O?" asked Gard.

"I am Lion-O, Zuvowang."

Gard gave a chuckled. "No your not. Lion-O doesn't have Tygra's left ear and neither am I Zuvowang, I'm Gard. Gard the Champion! Now once more tell me where Lion-O is and the rest of those who reside in this palace before I split you asunder and then nail your body parts to the gates of Thundera before I begin my search for the unconscious forms or corpses of the ThunderCats!"

"Damnation!" exclaimed the impostor. "And I was just getting used to the role." The impostor drew a dagger only for Gard to throw his axe and decapitate the impostor.

Once it was done, Gard heard Balor enter and exclaim: "Gard! What have you done?"

Gard pointed at the cranium of the slain impostor. "Watch." Soon enough, the head of Lion-O with Tygra's left eye turned into something most horrible. It was so ophidian-like in appearance that it could only be called the face of turpitude.

Balor gasped in shock. "W-What is it?"

"For lack of a better name? A devil!"

"Then does this mean the ThunderCats are…"

"Given my familiarity with these things? No." Gard then smiled. "Given my familiarity with our friends, I'd say we'll have found quite a few dead devils very soon." Gard walked away causing Balor to follow.

Everything was happening just too fast. Balor couldn't make sense of it. First Hecvia abducted his son and now devils were seeking to replace the ThunderCats? Was Third Earth going mad?

After about ten minutes, the sound of a great clamor could be heard coming from the primary council chamber. It was there that Gard and Balor found the ThunderCats. There must have been fifty dead devils there and that sounded about right.

Upon seeing them, a young Thunderan who was born after the Mumm-Ra war and after Mumm-Ra's brief revival asked: "Who invited the savages?"

It was Lion-O who answered the youth. "These 'savages' as you so rudely call them, Jad-Bal-Ja, are our friends. We worked hard to repair a rift between us and them just as we did the lizards and I believe that word you used to describe them is only un-offensive when they use it."

"Right you are, Lion-O!" Gard smiled and held his axe aloft. "I got one of the devils myself… A rather poor imitaton for you, Lion-O! It had Tygra's left ear in the place of your own." Upon hearing thins both Lion-O and Tygra put their hands to their left ears.

"I must ask you to forgive my son. He is young and does not know much about your kind except for the highly fantastical stories Kit has written."

Gard rolled his good eye and looked over at Kit. "Damn it, Kit! How many times must I tell you that I was not at the battle of El-Dara?" Kit just shrugged. Gard then looked at Jad-Bal-Ja. "Now tell me, boy, do you really need Zuvowang and Dalv in tow for you to recognize me?"

Jad-Bal-Ja gave a smile and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you at first. You've stopped wearing warrior's uniform of your clan."

Gard sighed. "Yes… However, I have not… We have not come for a visit."

"What then?" asked Kit, eager to hear of a new story to be written!

"Hecvia had abducted Kormac and we need your help!"


	4. Contours in the Cranium

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**Contours in the Cranium**

In the vast north there was a great mountain whose peak looked like the skull of a labinnac. It was here that Gard led Balor and the ThunderCats. It was there that Hecvia called her home it was there that she had brought Kormac.

"Sinister looking place." Commented Balor.

Lion-O nodded in agreement. "It's a wonder Mumm-Ra never sought to lure us here."

Everyone looked at Gard who just stared at the skull shaped peak. Today it ended. Hecvia would die. Kormac would be rescued. Procyon would be avenged. No longer would Hecvia ever curse anyone. Her existence that was a curse to all would be put to an end.

"Gard?" Balor put a hand on the old warrior's shoulder. "Are we to climb it?"

"Had I remembered to bring the horn I made so long ago we would not have to climb it. I would merely blow it and some beasts would come to fly us to the peak."

Panthro's reaction was a look of incredulous disbelief. "You forgot it intentionally."

Gard merely laughed in response. "That I did. There is no harm in a bit of a mountain climb."

Indeed they did climb the mountain. It was long and hard, for some more than others but eventually they did reach the peak. Once there, Gard did not even wait for the rest he just walked into the cave at the top of the mountain, dragging the husk that was Hecvia's along.

"Who comes here? Who comes to my home?" Hecvia's voice was cold, horrible, hissing more than a snake's ever could, hardly anything nice about it. Throwing the husk into the middle of the shadow-covered cave, Gard held up his axe waiting for the witch to attack him. "You dare bring that here? If you wish to be strangled then your wish shall be granted!"

A sinister bolt of light flew into the husk and soon enough it rose only for Gard to bring it down with his axe. Against the skull the axe came down, cleaving right through Hecvia, her body turning into dust as she died.

Once Kormac was freed, the group made the long trek home.

**The End**


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